Tobe Hooper, director of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,’ dead at 74

Tobe Hooper died Saturday at 74. (NOCTURNA INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC HANDOUT/EPA)

Tobe Hooper, the horror film director best known for the 1974 cult classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," died Saturday in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 74.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office on Sunday said Hooper died of natural causes, The Associated Press reported.

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He co-wrote and directed “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” which originated the character of Leatherface and spawned several classic elements of the slasher genre. (Bryanston Distributing Company/P)

The Austin, Tex., native had worked mostly on documentaries and TV commercials when he struck gold with the low-budget "Chainsaw," which starred a group of unknown actors as Texas teenagers desperately trying to escape the clutches of a family of cannibals led by the chainsaw-toting villain Leatherface.

Hooper shot the movie for less than $300,000, but thanks to word of mouth — and scathing reviews that focused on its gory violence, which only helped sell tickets — "Chainsaw" went on to gross more than $30 million and become a drive-in and midnight-movie staple for years.

The film was remade in 2003. (Handout)

Though initially banned in several countries, horror film fans — and many of Hooper's contemporaries — came to see it as a pioneering masterpiece of the slasher movie genre.

"Halloween" director John Carpenter considered "Chainsaw" "a seminal work in horror cinema," while "The Exorcist" director William Friedkin called it "the most terrifying film ever."

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Hooper went on to direct several more low-budget horror flicks that often featured a wicked sense of humor, including the 1976 thriller "Eaten Alive," 1981's "The Funhouse," a 1986 remake of "Invaders From Mars," "Spontaneous Combustion" in 1990, and "The Toolbox Murders" in 2004.

But he found mainstream fame in 1982 with "Poltergeist," which was written and produced by Steven Spielberg and starred JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson as parents whose new home — built on an old graveyard — is infested with ghosts. Hooper also directed the "Chainsaw" sequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" in 1986, as well as a television adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Salem's Lot" in 1979.

He also tried his hand at music videos, helming singer Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" video in 1982 — which featured skeletons and zombies.